Smart SEAstems for Marine Reclamation Challenge

How might we design and deploy smart, scalable systems that protect, monitor, and actively sustain the marine environment while enabling practical adoption across diverse maritime and coastal contexts?

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything You Need to Know: From Registration to Submission Guidelines and More

This challenge focuses on tackling the issue of illegal, abandoned, or lost fishing nets ("ghost nets") in the State of Qatar, which cause significant harm to marine wildlife and infrastructure. The goal is to transition from manual, difficulty-laden searches to a smart, scalable protection and recovery system.

Key aspects of the solution include:

  • Scalable Tracking & Detection - Implementing systems that can identify lost, abandoned, or inactive nets within a defined timeframe and trigger alerts. Location accuracy must be sufficient for recovery (indicatively ±10 m).
  • Robust Marine Operation - Ensuring hardware and materials can withstand high salinity, elevated temperatures, and corrosion while maintaining full functionality at depths up to 60 meters.
  • Lifecycle Impact Reduction - Deploying solutions that either facilitate efficient retrieval (e.g., via underwater drones/robotics) or utilize impact-limiting designs that degrade or deactivate over time to minimize harm.
  • Data & Accountability - Providing secure capabilities to associate nets with fisherman or operator identification and integrating with national marine monitoring systems where applicable.

The goal is to ensure the long-term protection of the marine ecosystem by reducing the "time-in-water" of lost nets and preventing damage to coral reefs and endangered species.

This challenge is open to SMEs and startups that can deliver solutions implementable in a relatively short timeframe (TRL 5 and above).

To register, click on the “Participate here” button at the top of the brief page. Follow the steps to create an account and complete your profile.

Key Dates:
  • Submission Deadline: April 14th, 2026 (UTC+3)
  • Shortlisting Deadline: May 2026
  • Evaluation Deadline: June 2026
  • Awarding of Winners: August 2026

Participants are required to complete and submit a participation form. Make sure to follow the guidelines provided in the "Challenge Details" section.

Participation in this challenge is strictly on behalf of startups. Each startup is considered a single participant, and submissions should represent the organization's collective solution. While internal collaboration within the startup is encouraged, the entry must be submitted under the startup's name rather than individual team members.

Winners will receive up to 100,000 USD in QRDI funding for solution development. Additional support includes access to designated marine testing sites, relevant data, mentorship, and necessary hardware components for deployment.

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